Avani Lekhara and Mona Agarwal have qualified for the women’s 10m air rifle standing SH1 final at the Paris Paralympics, with Avani finishing second and Mona fifth in the qualification round.
New Delhi: Tokyo Paralympics gold medallist Avani Lekhara, along with Mona Agarwal, has successfully qualified for the women’s 10m air rifle standing SH1 final at the Paris Paralympics. The event took place on Friday (August 30), marking another impressive milestone in their sporting journeys. Both athletes have demonstrated exceptional skills in the qualification rounds and will now compete for a spot on the podium, aiming to add to India’s growing legacy in para shooting.
Avani Lekhara secured second place in the 17-woman qualification round with an impressive score of 625.8 points, while Mona Agarwal finished in fifth, posting a score of 623.1 points. Their strong performances have positioned them well for the upcoming final.
At the top of the leaderboard, Ukraine’s Iryna Shchetnik set a new Paralympic qualification record with a score of 627.5, surpassing the previous mark set by China’s Zhang Cuiping at the Tokyo Games.
SH1 category is for shooters with lower limb impairments like amputations or paraplegia with the ability to hold their gun without difficulty and shoot from a standing or sitting position.
Avani scripted history at Tokyo 2020 when she became the first Indian woman to clinch a pair of medals at a single edition of the Paralympics. She won the 10m air rifle gold and the 50m rifle three-position bronze in the SH1 category on her Summer Games debut.
The Indian shooting contingent comprised 10 athletes – Avani, Manish Narwal, Amir Ahmad Bhat, Rudransh Khandelwal, Mona Agarwal, Rubina Francis, Swaroop Mahavir Unhalkar, Sidhartha Babu, Shriharsha Devaraddi and Nihal Singh.
